Reuters: Hot Stocks: UPDATE 1-ConAgra to buy Ralcorp for $5 bln

Reuters: Hot Stocks Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

UPDATE 1-ConAgra to buy Ralcorp for $5 bln Nov 27th 2012, 12:43 Tue Nov 27, 2012 7:43am EST (Adds details, background, share price movement) Nov 27 (Reuters) - Long-time suitor ConAgra Foods Inc finally sealed a deal to buy Ralcorp Holdings Inc for $5 billion to become the biggest private label food company in North America. Ralcorp shareholders will receive $90 per share in cash, representing a premium of 28.2 percent to the stock's Monday close, ConAgra said. Ralcorp shares were trading at $88.50 before the bell. They closed at $70.23 on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday. The deal is valued at $6.8 billion including debt, ConAgra said in a statement on Tuesday. Ralcorp last year rejected several ConAgra offers, including a $94 per share bid that valued the company at $5.2 billion, and chose instead to spin off its Post cereal business. With Tuesday's deal, the combined market value of Ralcorp and Post Holdings Inc is about $6.12 billion. Activist investor Corvex Management, Ralcorp's largest shareholder, in October demanded that the food manufacturer either sell itself, buy another company or change its strategy after a series of earnings disappointments. ConAgra said the deal, which was approved by the boards of both companies, will add to earnings in the first year. ConAgra's shares closed at $28.29 on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday. (Reporting by Siddharth Cavale in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions